Last year, composer Alexander Desplat won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar, for his work on The Painted Veil. This year, Desplat returns with another score for a film set in China. This time it is actually in the Chinese language. The film is Ang Lee's Lust, Caution. I have not yet seen the film, but the score is very good. It is a score that has a haunting beauty to it. It's simplity is striking when compared to the bigger movie scores such as, Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Both good scores, however there is something to be said about music that is not as busy and a little less concerned with character themes and repeating sequences. The Lust, Caution score gets me excited to see the film. I want to see how it all ties together with Ang Lee's visuals.
Lust, Caution is set during World War II in Shanghai. The story concerns a young woman, Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei), and how she becomes involved in a plot to assassinate a Japanese collaborator, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung). Wong is an actress and it is these skills that come into play when she becomes a part of the resistance against Japanese occupation. She becomes Mrs. Mak, a sophisticated woman who befriends Mr. Yee's wife (Joan Chen) in her efforts to lead Mr. Yee into an affair. Of course, not all goes as planned and Wong finds herself outside of the plan living her life until a few years later the plan comes back into focus.
From what I have seen, and now heard, of the film, I anxiously look forward to seeing it. The trailer just radiates beauty. Ang Lee knows how to paint the screen, whether he is doing quieter fare like Brokeback Mountatin, action like Hulk, or a combination like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Here he takes on the period drama, and his directorial skills combined with the musical talents of Alexandre Desplat appear to be a perfect match.
Article comments